The Best New Weapons in Destiny's Rise of Iron DLC - Part 1

The bread and butter of any First Person Shooter are the firearms that are available to you, and in Destiny's Rise of Iron DLC, this maxim is especially true considering how many possible firearm permutations there are. However, this wide variety of firearms does mean that it can be hard to determine which weapon is going to be your weapon of choice. Fortunately, there are plenty of options that are available to you that should fit almost any playstyle. Check out Part 2 for Pulse Rifles, Scout Rifles, and Sniper Rifles. Come back the next day for Part 3, featuring Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers, Shotguns, and Fusion Rifles.

Part 1 of this guide covers Hand Cannons, Sidearms, and Auto-Rifles. Due to their consistency and availability, the weapons featured in this guide are vendor weapons and thus cost 150 Legendary Marks.

Hand Cannons

The Wail

Available from: Future War Cult

Perks: Armor Piercing Rounds/Hip Fire, Hammer Forged/Third Eye, Firefly

With Hammer Forged, Firefly, and your choice of Armor Piercing Rounds or Hipfire, The Wail is a very well-rounded Hand Cannon that performs fairly in PvE. Much like the old Fatebringer, it can annihilate groups of trash mobs, although ammo conservation and recoil may be a concern. Not as effective in the Crucible, though it is serviceable thanks to Third Eye.

The Palindrome

Available from: Crucible Quartermaster

Perks: Mulligan/Spray and Play, Rifled Barrel/Casket Mag, Rangefinder

The largest weakness of Destiny's Hand Cannons are their range, and The Palindrome addresses this weakness head on with not one but two perks that increase range to rather ludicrous degrees. Arguably more well-rounded than Future War Cult's The Wail, with perks that are slightly more desirable in the Crucible, The Palindrome is less effective in PvE due to its inherent lack of crowd control capabilities.

Honorable Mention

How Dare You

Available from: Vanguard Quartermaster

Perks: Mulligan/Icarus, Hammer Forged/Explosive Rounds, Luck in the Chamber

Of Destiny's Hand Cannons, none are remembered with more dread than Thorn, the Exotic Hand Cannon that dominated the Crucible thanks to its ability to two-shot people at virtually any range. With How Dare You, you can relive those days, but in a very inconsistent fashion. Due to its abnormally large magazine size, Luck in the Chamber simply doesn't proc enough to be reliable, but if you can find a version of this Hand Cannon (or for that matter, any Hand Cannon) that has a small magazine and Luck in the Chamber, you too can (maybe) two shot people.

Sidearms

The Wormwood

Available from: Future War Cult

Perks: High Caliber Rounds/Quickdraw, Zen Moment/Hand Loaded, Hidden Hand

With only two viable Sidearms in Destiny's Rise of Iron DLC, your options are rather limited, but at least The Wormwood has Hidden Hand and Zen Moment; two perks that are acceptable in that they help you spam bullets in emergency situations (which is kind of the whole point of Sidearms).

Teacup Tempest 

Available from: Vanguard Quartermaster

Perks: Zen Moment/Army of One, High Caliber Rounds/Fitted Stock, Reactive Reload

The other viable Sidearm in Destiny's Rise of Iron DLC, with a decent selection of perks that reward you for shooting someone. Better hope that you hit your target or there aren't multiple people shooting at you though, because its magazine size is atrocious (although to be fair, that's not saying much when most of Destiny's Sidearms have rather small magazine sizes).

Auto-Rifles

The Continental

Available from: Vanguard Quartermaster

Perks: Focused Fire/Eye of the Storm, Perfect Balance/Rifled Barrel, Hidden Hand

Destiny's Auto-Rifles have had historically bad performance at long range, but not The Continental. Hidden Hand, Perfect Balance, and Focused Fire let you fight at relatively long range without sacrificing too much close range power (although you can simply turn off Focused Fire if close range firefights are your concern). It is well-rounded for any scenario, although its choice of sights leave much to be desired. 

Extremophile 011

Available from: Dead Orbit

Perks: Armor-Piercing Rounds/Hip Fire, Hot Swap/Perfect Balance, Persistence

For situations where you want to hold down the trigger and fire dozens of bullets in a few seconds with little to no impact on your accuracy, there's the Extremophile 011. Perfect Balance on its own makes this weapon decent, but combined with Persistence and Hip Fire you should be able to fight at close range with little difficulty (at least until you run into someone with a shotgun).

Zero-Day Dilemma

Available from: Crucible Quartermaster

Perks: Eye of the Storm/Spray and Play, Braced Frame/Rifled Barrel, Hidden Hand

For those who remember the Shadow Price, the Zero-Day Dilemma is almost an exact copy of the once mighty weapon. High Impact, a respectable rate of fire, and perks that make it easier for you to deal a consistent amount of damage at range makes the Zero-Day Dilemma virtually a must-have for Auto-Rifle aficionados. The first set of perks leave much to be desired though.

Honorable Mention

Assembly II

Available from: New Monarchy

Perks: Armor-Piercing Rounds/Quickdraw, Perfect Balance/Third Eye, Counterbalance

For situations where you want to hold down the trigger and fire hundreds of bullets in seconds with relatively low impact on your accuracy, there's the Assembly II. Of course, the super high rate of fire may be off-putting for most people (especially considering how PvE tends to favor those with high damage rather than rate of fire), but as far as such weapons go, the Assembly II isn't bad considering how it has two perks that are dedicated to helping you stay on target.

Part 2 of this guide will focus on Pulse Rifles, Scout Rifles, and Sniper Rifles; weapons that have an emphasis on precision and damage.